One customary way of forming an electrical connection between an electrical terminal having a conductive metal ferrule or barrel to an electrical conductor member is by means of crimping. Typically insulating material is stripped from the end of the electrical conductor and the stripped end of the conductor is inserted into the barrel or ferrule member. Compression force is then applied to the barrel or ferrule to press and permanently deform it into an electrically conductive and mechanically strong connection with the ends of the conductor wires contained therein. One principle objective of crimping is to form an intimate electrically conductive connection of the wire ends to the metal barrel that is strong enough mechanically so that the barrel is firmly attached to the wires and resists being inadvertently pulled off.
Most approaches to crimping use a pair of opposing die members having opposed and cooperating crimping surfaces that produce a crimp having a distinctive cross sectional shape such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,098,517 (oval shape), U.S. Pat. No. 2,359,083 (diamond shape), U.S. Pat. No. 2,693,216 ("W" shape), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,516 ("oblique" crimp).
One deficiency of the above crimps is that the compression force and the shape of the die members cause the material in the crimped area to flatten and expand or extrude radially outwardly relative to the original size of the conductor wire or terminal. Owing to the increased radial width of the terminated section, adjacent conductors having contact terminals crimped thereto need to be spaced sufficiently far apart to avoid accidental electrical engagement between the adjacent members. Furthermore, if the crimped terminal members are used in housings, the cavities of the housings need to be appropriately dimensioned to receive the crimped terminal members. Thus a bulky crimp area interferes with the miniaturization of electronic equipment that utilizes a plurality of crimped terminal members in a confined space. Additionally the non-symmetrical nature of many of such crimps may require that the crimped terminal be oriented in a specific manner within a particular electrical housing. It is desirable, therefore, to have a means for crimping an electrical terminal wherein the crimped section of the terminal does not extend beyond the outside diameter of the insulation of the electrical conductor and preferably does not extend beyond the original outside diameter of the terminal member itself. In addition it is also desirable to have a cost effective means for crimping electrical terminals and preferably one that will reduce assembly operations.